Panoramic ball camera; toss to snap a picture

This odd-looking ball can automatically take a panoramic image whenever you throw it up into the air. Seriously, that’s then entire set of operating instructions for the device. Inside, a 3D printed frame hosts an array of 36 cellphone cameras, each capable of taking a two megapixel image. Also included is an accelerometer. When it senses the change in momentum associated with the apex of its vertical trajectory it snaps an image with all of the cameras at the same time. The result is a spherical image with no obstructions-like a tripod or other support mechanism. The images are automatically stitched together and displayed on a computer which allows the user to pan and zoom.

The whole story is told in the video after the break. The example images shown are quite good, although there are a few artifacts where the segments meet. Most notably, color variances between the images captured by different CCD modules. We’d image that this can be fixed automatically in software if a talented programmer were willing to put in the time. The thing about spherical photos is that methods using post processing to unwrap an image always have some distortion to them. With that in mind, we think the ball camera is as good a solution as we’ve seen.

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70 thoughts on “Panoramic ball camera; toss to snap a picture”

It should be named religion ball. Photographers look like praying on all photos if they want to catch camera before it falls to ground. Otherwise – it’s amazing concept, so innovative I can’t even start thinking how anyone stumbled upon this concept.

Awesome concept.
To be clear, accelerometer cannot detect the apex of the flight path directly, well maybe it could if the accelerometer was very accurate to take wind resistance in account. Instead, the accelerometer is used to measure acceleration, and the apex can be integrated from the acceleration data.

How does it sense the apogee? On-board accelerometers should show zero g as soon as the ball leaves the thrower’s hands and remain at zero until it is caught. Are the accelerometers sensitive enough to detect the effect of air resistance?

Something in free fall has constant acceleration, so you can’t detect the apex of the ball’s flight with an accelerometer. What this device actually does is integrate the acceleration when the ball is being thrown (before it is released) to get its initial velocity, which is then used to calculate the time to the apex.

No Matt is correct, acceleration is constant during free fall, and that includes the trajectory when the ball is moving upwards, the apex, and the downwards part. There must be some other system used to determine the apex.

No, you can’t. The same instant that the ball leaves your hands, it is in free fall, and It accelerometers should read exactly 0 until it is catched. For this size and speed, I think you can ignore friction.

The Acceleration time graph would have a positive spike at the beginning from the user’s throw but once it leaves the users hand it accelerates due to gravity at a constant -9.81ms^2 nothing happens to the acceleration at the peak of the flight. As matt said the accelerometer is used to gather data about the throw which is then extrapolated to work out the height.

I am uncertain about how effective this would be. I DO however remember a project that used an accelerometer to capture the required values for debluring an image. Add more sensors and you could do the same here.

To those suggesting military applications. There are several different kinds of cameras like this designed for military use, there are throwable ones and ones launched using standard grenade launchers.

The grenade launcher ones that I am aware of can be launched and transmit video for about 30 seconds. These are launched along with star parachute rounds at night.

I am quite impressed with this approach and am glad to see so much interest in this type of project. Readers interested in wide field of view high resolution imaging might check out this pdf. Note the spec’s at the bottom of page 7.

This is great…they need to make a video version and make it super-strong, then use it as the ball in Soccer and Baseball…it might actually make those sports worth watching, on TV anyway. Heck, it could even make Tennis interesting…for a while.

How is the camera triggering done? When the ball is thrown it is essentially in free fall until catched. Is air drag sufficient to determine apogee? I doubt the two uc’s have enough computing power to do it with the cameras.

Calculus, I would guess. It knows only it’s acceleration, but it knows it’s acceleration from time 0 through the flight. Knowing how fast it is going at time 0, and integrating it’s acceleration function (which should be just gravity) it can determine velocity. Knowing it’s velocity, it can tell when it’s at an apex.

Less theoretical, just figure out how fast the ball is thrown and at what angle to the ground. Take that vector, and figure out just the upward movement. When time*gravity=initial_upward_vector, you’ve hit apex. Drag will play a small part, you could add a drag calculation into the first part, but why? I few milliseconds error isn’t going to be more motion blur than the spin of the ball will be.

Does anyone actually know how accelerometers work?
The original concept developed for torpedoes is a free WEIGHT with a spring fore and aft, allowing the weight to move back when first accelerating and for’d when acceleration ceases (making the connection which set off the payload).

Of military issues. Why not hook a Wi-Fi or Sat link and drop it from an unmanned aircraft as an observation platform. You could confirm your kills with it while exploding it. Imagine if Bin Laden saw that fly into his bunker window, picked it up thinking it was a UFO and then 7 guys burst while he’s busy watching a “Western” on TV. Fun stuff. Or put mirrors on it and drop it inside the NYC New Years ball. Imagine the possible.